copenhagen

ben & i spent the better part of last week in copenhagen, denmark.  

we were there to attend a conference on international education,

but we also got the chance to explore the city each afternoon/evening, and over the weekend, before returning home.

copenhagen is a beautiful - and very metropolitan - city.  every bar was like a jcrew ad, and every woman seemed to be sporting a lanvin bag.  them danes can shop!

we very much enjoyed walking the streets and watching the beautiful people walk around in their beautiful clothing, or peddle on their beautiful bikes.

they bike wearing stilettos.

the round tower observatory

being 5.5 months pregnant, this made me feel a bit awkward and out-of-touch, but that's ok.  i enjoyed it none the less!

royal danish army officers academy

by the end of each day after walking miiiles of conference and city, my pregnant feet were killing me.  my shoes don't fit like they used to.  apparently when you're pregnant, your feet swell!

nyhavn harbor

this made for the perfect excuse for ben to massage my feet though - so i didn't complain (too much).

dinner at cap & horn, nyhavn harbor

amalienborg palace

this woman was terrified of the guard but wanted a picture with him - backed up to him until she got too close & he cracked his weapon on the ground, at which point she squealed.  ben and i were quite entertained.

gefion fountain

on saturday morning we ventured to copenhagen harbor to view the famous little mermaid statue,

the little mermaid

and then across the river (on a ferry boat, which the captain let us ride for free when it was clear we didn't have the required metro passes - got to love the danes) to see freetown christiana.

christiana

christiana is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood (according to wikipedia).  mainly, this means that the residents buy & sell hashish.  ben and i walked the area and found that, most of all, it is kind of a depressing place.

but walking to and from christiana did bring us past this incredible church, so that made it worth while.

and later on while exploring some different neighborhoods, we happened upon another incredible food market, torvehallerne (which reminded us of the one we visited in madrid), where we enjoyed the most delicious organic cupcakes.

we left with but one souvenir - and yes, it's for baby balkaya, not us!  i couldn't resist buying these viking pj's for my little viking (well, he kicks like a viking, anyhow)... who has now visited 5 countries!